1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, a printing machine, and a multifunction machine in which a copying function and a facsimile function are combined together. Particularly, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit; an image reading unit provided above the image forming unit so as to open and close; and an automatic document feeder provided above the image reading unit so as to open and close.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in order to make an attempt to make an image forming apparatus compact by reducing the footprint of the image forming apparatus, there has been considered and developed an image forming apparatus including: a tray unit in which recording sheets having images formed thereon are to be discharged and stacked is provided above an image forming unit; an image reading unit provided above the tray unit so as to open and close; and an automatic document feeder provided above the image reading unit so as to open and close.
For instance, JP-A-2000-221746, JP-A-2002-062705 and JP-A-2002-082590 disclose the image forming apparatus having the above configuration.